[83.06] Constraints on Nuclear Physics from White Dwarf Seismology

T. S. Metcalfe (University of Texas-Austin)

For many years, astronomers have promised that the study of
pulsating white dwarfs would ultimately lead to useful
information about the physics of matter under extreme
conditions of temperature and pressure. We can now finally
make good on that promise. Using observational data from the
Whole Earth Telescope and a new analytical method employing
a genetic algorithm, we demonstrate that the pulsation modes
of the helium-atmosphere variable white dwarf GD 358 probe
down to the inner few percent of the star. We empirically
determine the central carbon/oxygen ratio and use it to
place constraints on the 12C(\alpha,\gamma)16O
nuclear reaction cross-section.